When I enter the hospital ward, I keep the ethos of “expect nothing” firmly in my mind as I start to move my fingers across the strings of my small harp. I work as a musician in healthcare, a role that sees me engaging musically with patients, family and staff across the wards of Furness general hospital.
The joy of the size of the harp is the way it enables me to be close to patients. I can crouch down low, be right by bedsides, and of course I can easily move out of people’s way. The music has the ability to entertain, to distract, to relax and to soothe, but it also provides an opportunity to communicate without the need for words.
My role is to be able to read people’s responses, to notice the clear “no thanks” in the body language, or the invitation in the tapping toe, eye contact, a smile, or calmness where there had been agitation. To create a safe environment for emotional release, be that sadness or joy.
The presence of live music acts as a window to the outside world. A clinical space transforms into a cultural one, as the music weaves through the busyness of the ward. The live music provides a human contact that reaches out to the wellness within someone. It can transport to another world, yet also has the ability to ground someone in the current moment. Making no demands, yet reaching out to the core within someone which still responds so naturally to a beautiful melody.
I have shared the most incredible moments with people who have joined in singing songs, who had shown no other sign of being present in the room. As one such lady later told her daughter: “I dreamt I saw an angel today.”
